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Wisconsin elections: Disabled community opposes law changes
By Scott Bauer
Absentee ballot drop box
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin voters with disabilities urged lawmakers on Wednesday to reconsider two Republican-backed bills passed by the state Senate that would make it more difficult to cast absentee ballots.
Advocates and those with disabilities said the two measures put people with physical challenges at a particular disadvantage. Disability Rights Wisconsin estimates that 23% of registered in voters in the state have some sort of disability, based on data from the American Association of People with Disabilities. Ultimately, they’re harming a very large minority, said Stephanie Birmingham, who has the condition osteogenesis imperfecta and uses a wheelchair. Birmingham, who lives in Sturgeon Bay, joined others on a virtual news conference to speak out against the bills.
Wisconsin disabled community opposes election law changes
By SCOTT BAUERMay 12, 2021 GMT
MADISON, Wis. (AP) Wisconsin voters with disabilities urged lawmakers on Wednesday to reconsider two Republican-backed bills passed by the state Senate that would make it more difficult to cast absentee ballots as part of the broader GOP push to make it harder to vote by mail following Donald Trump’s defeat.
Advocates and those with disabilities said the two measures put people with physical challenges at a particular disadvantage. Disability Rights Wisconsin estimates that 23% of registered in voters in the state have some sort of disability, based on data from the American Association of People with Disabilities.
HUDSON â Two Wisconsin voting bills are a source of concern for disability rights advocates, including a local Hudson man.Â
Ramsey Lee joined other advocates for those with disabilities in speaking out against the voting bill being considered by the Wisconsin Legislature during a press conference on Wednesday, May 12, held by the Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition. Â
Bill 203 would require that an absentee ballot be returned by mail or turned in by the voter, a member of the voterâs immediate family or the voterâs legal guardian. If the voter is unable to deliver the ballot and has no legal guardian or immediate family in the state, the person may then designate one registered voter to deliver the ballot. That person may not deliver more than one ballot for any election for a person who is not an immediate family member. Â